This video shows the first contact and interaction between the pup and Chunk.
Below, more interactions between pup, mother and Chunk. The pup is starting to be more vocal.
Other birth videos:
See Elephant Seal Birth part 1- start and end of birth
See Elephant Seal Birth part 2
See Elephant Seal Birth part 3 wide angle
See Elephant Seal Birth part 4
Pup and mother vocalizations, Chunk is heard vocalizing out of the frame. A seagull feasts on the nutrient dense placenta.
Mother and pup close up, vocalizations.
The pup is looking to nurse but seems like it hasn’t figured out the mechanics of it yet.
Continue on to the next post for complete birth sequence.
See Elephant Seal Birth part 1- start and end of birth
See Elephant Seal Birth part 2
Mother and pup vocalizations
See Elephant Seal Birth part 3
See Elephant Seal Birth part 4
Above, the mother elephant seal is having contractions. The pups nose and head start to become visible at the end of the clip.
The pup is born, steaming in the sun and the mother starts calling to it.
See Elephant Seal Birth part 1- start and end of birth
See Elephant Seal Birth part 2
See Elephant Seal Birth part 3 wide angle
See Elephant Seal Birth part 4
Ecological
Maintenance
News Flash: At 1:00 pm today a new elephant seal pup has been born just below the tower: A good image is possible from Camera1 .
Elephant seal pup born at 1:00 pm today at Race Rocks—-from camera 1
More pictures off the birth to come later ——-
Ecological
Vessels
Maintenance
This photograph taken at Race Rocks by Alex Fletcher in January 2012 was featured in the British Columbia Magazine Winter 2014. This female elephant seal (Squall) was born at Race Rocks and was successful in leaving theisland without injury.
Fog followed an overcast dawn and was repetitively beaten back by sunshine throughout the day. While the sun was out, it was intense (900 Watts/meter2), but fog lingered just to the west and Beechey Head was repeatedly obscured as the fog came and went. Eventually in early evening, pushed by the west-southwest wind, the fog rolled back in and enveloped Race Rocks. For most of the day day the wind blew west a fairly steady, 10 – 15 knots. The fog wind was more intense though, pushing 25 – 30 knots. The barometer went up a bit in the morning and then, after noon it dropped by a little more than it had gone up, ending up at ~1014 hPa and falling. The forecast is for a strong wind warning, (more westerlies), mainly sunny, with a few clouds.
No whale watching vessels were observed in the Ecological Reserve today. Several private, sportsfishing boats went through at a respectful speed and they were not fishing in reserve. One rental boat from Pedder Bay Marina was fishing in the Rockfish Conservation Area on both the east and on the west side of the houses. The people seemed to know that they were not supposed to be there and were playing a bit of hide and seek. Two couples were all fishing for and keeping rockfish in the Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA). Whether or not they exceeded the limit for outside RCA (1 rockfish per day) is open for speculation.
Two large male Killer Whales were spotted travelling east, along the north edge of the Ecological Reserve in Race Passage. As is often the case with Bigg’s Killer Whales, they seemed to be evasive, perhaps exhaling underwater. They were spotted again near nNorth Rocks and then skirted around to the south. From their behavious, it is likely that these were Bigg’s Killer Whales.
It takes a lot less energy to play when suspended in water.
The Northern Elephant Seals have been sticking very close to shore during their swims, preferring the shallow sub-tidal in the bull kelp fringes. The young males who love to play fight when they are hauled out continue their sparring activity in the water. I wonder if the Bigg’s Killer Whales could hear them?
A small seal with new tags.
Another new (to me) Northern Elephant Seals showed up today, well tagged with #9836 on the right and #9807 on the left. All four tags looked really new as did the seal. The smallest one ashore since I arrived in March, it had almost completed its’ moult and the skin was looking too big for it, so I venture to guees that it has been hauling out on Middle Rock moulting for a while and came over to Great Race because of all the bustling seal activity here.
This small animal is starting to look like her skin is a bit too big for her.
Both routine chores and seasonal maintenance were accomplished today. The grated, aluminum ramp on the jetty was repaired and trouble-shooting completed on the Whaler’s electrical system. There were no new visitors today.
Feb 27: wind 10-20 knots N to NE, cloudy and some rain. 2 whale watching boats.
Chunk was back on the island again. As he came up from the boat ramp the female left the pup to get away from Chunk. Chunk spent a while sniffing the pup and then stayed with it for a while. Eventually he continued up the path but didnt pursue the female.
Feb 28: Sunny, wind 5-10 NE.
Working on cleaning, packing, finishing up a few projects for the upcoming end of my shift. Finally got around to finishing with the shoreline garbage sorting/inventory. This is all the garbage that washed up around the jetty during the past 3 months. The majority of it came in during the heavier NE wind storms. It includes: 82 lids, 9 lighters, 16 plastic straws, 6 pens, 106 shotgun shells of wadding, 5 shoes/sandals/soles, 12 plastic cigarette/cigar butts, 2 party balloons, as well as countless random plastic pieces, soft plastic and various size chunks of styrofoam.
March 1: Partly sunny, wind variable 10-20 knots, light rain in late afternoon/evening. The female elephant seal has now been away from the dead pup for a couple days, resting on the lawn in front of the main house. The ravens and eagles have begun eating the softer tissue on the pup’s face. Chunk has been very docile lying next to path on the way to the guest house, we have been passing back and forth past him for various tasks and he barely moves. The female has stayed by the main house, also very passive and resting.
Packing, cleaning and finishing up: cleaned tank room, did month end records, switched out empty propane, sealed compass on whaler, firewood stacking, topped up battery bank. Preparing for end of shift tomorrow and switch with Nick.
Virginie working on the woodpile
Wind E 10 increasing to 20 N. Cloudy, rain in evening. DND blasting continued.
Courtney came out in the morning and brought Kim. We worked most of the day on setting up the rest of the scaffolding, fixing the derrick cable, and taking down the scaffolding. Had the new wire rope installed and working by afternoon. Worked on fire wood and replaced (new) leaky pvc valve in desal with a brass one.
I was finally able to get a clear view of the female elephant seals yellow flipper tag, # 5086. Yellow tags indicate that this elephant seal comes from San Miguel Island or Santa Rosa Island. We have had several previous sightings of an eseal with a 5086 tag, including this sighting by Julie https://www.racerocks.ca/2012/07/07/new-and-old-faces/ but they were always green tags and this one is clearly yellow. At some point the pup’s body got flipped over and it is now possible to determine that it is male.
